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Beau Billingslea
John "Beau" Billingslea (born 1944) is an American actor known as the voice of Jet Black in the popular anime Cowboy Bebop, Ogremon in Digimon and Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage in Naruto Shippuden. In addition to voice acting, He appeared in many television shows and some films including North and South Book II: Love and War, Just Jordan, The Hannah Montana Movie, and Star Trek: Into Darkness. Biography Early life and career Billingslea was born in Charleston, South Carolina. His father was from Macon, Georgia and his mother was from Malensis, South Carolina near Charleston. His family moved to Meriden, Connecticut, where he grew up. At Maloney High School, he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball, and was offered a contract with the Kansas City Athletics, but at the advice of his father, went to University of Connecticut, where he played football and co-captained in his senior year. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Science in 1966. He was involved in ROTC and had to turn down entering the NFL in order to fulfill his military service, however, his commitment was deferred so that he could attend UConn Law School, where he graduated and passed the Connecticut bar in 1969. He became an officer in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps, and had tours in Germany and Europe, working on a number of cases. In Germany, he also taught criminal law for the University of Maryland's extension program. Acting career While in college, Billingslea was encouraged by his fraternity brother to perform the lead role in a production of Emperor Jones. This inspired him to go into acting, and he started getting involved professionally while he was in law school. After moving to Los Angeles, he was involved in a number of action shows, including TJ Hooker, Hunter, The Fall Guy, and The A-Team. Billingslea mentioned in an interview that it was probably because of his military background that he was often cast as an officer. He portrayed Ezra in the TV miniseries North and South, and was involved in a number of shows including Who's the Boss?, Murphy Brown, and Married... with Children. On the Nick series Just Jordan he played Jordan's maternal grandfather Grant. In the TV sitcom Franklin & Bash he portrayed Judge Douglas. He also acted in films such as Night Shift, The American President, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Halloween H2O, and a [[The Blob (1988 film)|remake of The Blob]]. In 2013, he portrayed Captain Abbot of the Starship Bradbury in the feature film Star Trek: Into Darkness. Voice-over career Billingslea's voice-over work started with radio spots for various businesses and organizations, including Honda, Hood, and California Highway Patrol. He worked on several cartoons and anime, his most notable being Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop, which was broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. He also voiced starring characters Captain Michael Heartland in Argento Soma; Oji Tanaka in The Legend of Black Heaven, which was broadcast on International Channel; and was the voice of Ogremon and various "mons" in Digimon. In Naruto, he voices Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage. He attended several anime conventions, including the 2016 Anime Expo, which united the Cowboy Bebop English voice cast. He has also been involved in narrating shows on The History Channel including Hero Ships, Modern Marvels, and Suicide Missions. Personal life Billingslea lives in the Los Angeles area. His son is an attorney and his daughter is an accountant. In 1987, he was inducted into the Meriden Hall of Fame. In 2014, he gave the keynote address at a UConn Law School reunion. Filmography 'Animation' *Adventure Time - The Moon *Megas XLR - Grrkek (ep7), Orange Scaley Thing#1 (ep7) 'Anime' *.hack//Legend of the Twilight - Cerulean Knight (ep9), Doctor *Arc the Lad - Spirit of Flame *Argento Soma - Michael Heartland *Babel II: Beyond Infinity - Masaki *Battle B-Daman - Nouz, Additional Voices *Bleach - Central 46 Judge (ep212), Edrad Liones *Brigadoon - Kuston Brown *Burn-Up Scramble - Councilmember, Additional Voices *Cowboy Bebop - Jet Black *Digimon: Digital Monsters - Ogremon *Digimon Data Squad - Additional Voices *DinoZaurs - Dino Mammoth *Durarara!!x2 Shō - Ringirin (ep7) *Durarara!!x2 Ten - Dōgen Awakusu (ep3) *Eureka Seven - Captain Moalutdar *Fafner - Colonel Dudley Barns *Fighting Spirit - Yoshio Fujiwara (ep12) *Gad Guard - Additional Voices *Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo - Bertuccio *Geneshaft - Diskon, George *Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG - Commissioner (ep5) *Ghost Slayers Ayashi - Carpenter (ep8), Yataro Uchida *Great Teacher Onizuka - Yakuza (ep34), Additional Voices *Gun Frontier - Shitalnen *Gungrave - Bear Walken *Heat Guy J - Additional Voices *Last Exile - Additional Voices *Monster - Milan Kolasch (ep62) *Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit - Karbo (ep13) *Naruto - Homura Mitokado *Naruto: Shippūden - Ay, Homura Mitokado *Outlaw Star - Narrator *Planetes - Commander (ep12), Executive Vice-President (ep11), Additional Voices *Rave Master - Deerhound *Rurouni Kenshin - Gohei Hiruma, Ludel Minister, Police Man (ep55), Senkaku *Saiyuki Reload: Gunlock - Gato *Samurai Champloo - Additional Voices *Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School - Akitaka Fudo *Tenjho Tenge - Kaiba Natsume *The Legend of Black Heaven - Oji Tanaka *The Twelve Kingdoms - Shoushiba *Tiger & Bunny - Ben Jackson *Vandread - Additional Voices *Vandread: The Second Stage - The Premier (ep11) *Wild Arms: Twilight Venom - Guilty (ep10) *Witch Hunter Robin - Nagira's 2nd Informant (ep21), Willem Hasselbyke *Wolf's Rain - Sea Walrus (ep22) 'DVD Specials' *Angel Wars: The Messengers - Swift 'Movies' *Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Jet Black *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - Barrett Wallace *Lupin the III: The Castle of Cagliostro - Additional Voices *Naruto Shippūden The Movie: Blood Prison - Ay *Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie - DJ *The Last: Naruto The Movie - Ay *Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning - Ben Jackson *Tiger & Bunny The Movie: The Rising - Ben Jackson *Toy Warrior - Principal 'OVA' *Black Jack - Mr. Patterson (ep7) *Ghost Slayer Ayashi: Ayashi Divine Comedy - Yataro Uchida *Macross Plus - Col. Millard Johnson *Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory - Kowen *New Getter Robo - Additional Voices *Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey - Noo, Additional Voices *Ys - Norton (ep1) *Ys II: Castle in the Heavens - Kys 'Shorts' *IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix - Yammer 'TV Specials' *The Night B4 Christmas - Elvin's Dad 'Video Games' *Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War - Captain Marcus Snow *Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War - Anthony Palmer *Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana - Chief of Fire, Village Chief *Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance - Quincy *Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light - Gozen, Necroberg King Valen *Bleach: The 3rd Phantom - Edrad Liones *Breakdown - Lead Researcher, Soldier on Phone *Culdcept Saga - Additional Voices *Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII - Barrett Wallace *Dynasty Tactics 2 - Additional Voices *Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Dynasty Warriors 4 - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Dynasty Warriors 5 - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Dynasty Warriors 6 - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Dynasty Warriors 7 - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Dynasty Warriors 8 - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Front Mission 4 - Carl Thammond *Kessen III - Kenshin Uesugi, Masakage Yamagata *Kingdom Hearts II - Bo'Sun, Additional Voices *MagnaCarta 2 - Additional Voices *Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Impact - Ay *Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 - Ay *Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations - Ay *Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution - Ay *Omega Boost - ADR Loop Group *Outlaws - "Buckshot" Bill Morgan *Phase Paradox - Marquis Lamming *Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire - Rakeesh, Shakra *Radiata Stories - Gerald *Saints Row: The Third - Additional Voices *Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked - Buddhist Priest *Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Adray Lasbard *Warriors Orochi - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *Warriors Orochi 2 - Cao Ren, Dian Wei *WildStar - Judge Kain, Osun Male *Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - Helmer 'Narration' *Toonami - Narration 'Promos' *Cowboy Bebop - Narration External Links *Beau Billingslea convention appearances on AnimeCons.com *Beau Billingslea at Anime News Network's encyclopedia *Beau Billingslea at Crystal Acids Voice Actor Database *Beau Billingslea at the Internet Movie Database Category:American male film actors Category:American male television actors Category:African-American male actors Category:American male video game actors Category:American male voice actors Category:Connecticut Huskies football players Category:Living people Category:Actors from Charleston, South Carolina Category:Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army Category:University of Connecticut School of Law alumni Category:People from Meriden, Connecticut Category:University of Connecticut alumni Category:1944 births Category:Male actors from Los Angeles